The strategy will help address the most pressing concern: how and when to collect more than 300 miles of protective boom that remain in Louisiana waterways. Some state and federal officials are concerned that leaving so much boom out there could hurt the marshes if a hurricane landed in our region.

Handling Louisiana's boom will take time. It took BP nearly six weeks to retrieve 1.6 million feet of boom in Alabama, Florida and parts of Mississippi. Louisiana alone has that much boom, so collecting it here is likely to last through the hurricane season's busiest period.

The new plan recognizes that the threat of additional oil washing ashore means some areas will need to keep boom in place. Just as important, it requires that local officials agree before BP removes oil containment equipment. Gov. Bobby Jindal said that should help prevent a repeat of past disputes over resources being moved out prematurely, and he's right.

The strategy also includes steps to monitor the presence of submerged oil in the Gulf -- and that cannot be overlooked. Scientists are monitoring 400 "sentinel" stations: crab traps filled with absorbent boom meant to capture any oil in the water column.

Officials said the offshore or near-shore stations have shown no signs of lingering oil. But having a plan to monitor any submerged oil and to wrap up this massive cleanup in an orderly manner is an important step.